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The author of Invincible Summer writes of a new kind of heroine: one who is almost arrogantly independent and of necessity deceitful. When Daphne, who knows she wants to go to college (and has single-mindedly pursued the goal of saving money for this purpose), gets pregnant, she doesn't even bother to tell the baby's father. Instead, she leaves her own (abusive) father and gentle mother, finds a new city, a new job, a new life and, ultimately, a new family of the people who surround her. Having toyed with and forsaken the idea of abortion, Daphne believes she will give up the baby for adoption when it is born. But luckily, she finds three other loners, who, like her, want to give the baby a family. If the ending seems straight out of Hollywood, the build-up is no less so, but somehow the fairy tale veneer suits this story. Daphne's way, which is supposed to be rough and tough going, seems smoothed for her from the start. The story's lesson may be that if a girl makes up her mind, she can do anything. Ages 12-up. (June)